Tris and Tobias, friends in Abnegation
by iamdivergenttt
Summary: In this story, Tris and Tobias are both around 15 years old, their Choosing Ceremony a year away. They bump into each other one day on the street, and their friendship blossoms from there. I'm new to this site, and this is my first work of literature! Any criticism, good or bad, would be appreciated :)


(in this version, tris and tobias are the same age, instead of the 2 year gap in the original story.)

I opened my eyes to the sun shining through my blinds. The sun is starting to rise, meaning I should be up and preparing for breakfast. In Abnegation, you never think of yourself. Always thinking of others, meaning that even though I'm exhausted, I have to get up to make breakfast for my family. Today is another typical day, so I will spend the day volunteering to help the factionless. I push myself to be selfless, although sometimes it's hard. I feel like I don't belong sometimes, I mean in Abnegation. I shouldn't have to think about whether I should offer my seat up to the old man on the bus, I should just give it to him. Or whether to help someone pick up their things or not after they drop them. I don't think like that though and I never have.

Breakfast was how it usually is every morning. Caleb and I prepare the food and set the table, having the food ready when my parents come downstairs. We say our good mornings, and then eat. My father flips through the morning paper, quietly mumbling to himself every other page. Caleb and I refill drinks, and sometimes discuss what we're doing for the day. My mother eats quietly, observing all of us. After breakfast is finished, my parents clean it up since Caleb and I set it up. I'm free to go for the day, which I will spend volunteering to give the Factionless food and water.

It's a long walk to the factionless shelter, which I walk with a group of kids from my neighborhood. Susan lives next door, she talks mostly to Caleb. I have boring conversations with her brother Robert, just like every day. It's always repeating the motions in Abnegation, and sometimes it drives me crazy. Today though, Robert and Caleb talk mostly about things they read in the paper, and Susan and I quietly walk next to eachother. Susan is very sweet, I know she belongs here. She's very quiet, delicate and beautiful. The four of us go to take a turn, when I feel myself hit something. I stumble back, tripping over my feet and land on the ground. I look up to see what I hit...it's a boy. My neighbor actually, although I can't think of his name. I never really see him out, he's somewhat of a shut in. When I look at him, he has a horrified look on his face.

"I… I am so sorry….I.. here, let me help you up." He says, fumbling his words and reaching his hand out to me.

"That's okay, it was my fault I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I say as he helps me up and I run my hands down my dress to flatten it. He lets out a small smile, and immediately suppresses it. He's very handsome, a lot taller than I am now that I stand in front of him. He has a typical Abnegation haircut, very short and kept close to his head, his hair dark brown. He has the most piercing blue eyes and a strong jawline. His shoulders are somewhat broad, but he's sort of stringy looking. As I observe all this about him, I realize I've been staring at him in silence.

"I um, I better get going." He says, going to turn away.

"Tobias, right? Marcus's son?" I say, wanting him to stay and talk to me.

"Um yes. Beatrice? You live a few houses down from me.." He says, his voice drifting off. His eyes widen, staring at something behind me, and I turn to see his father walking towards us. "I have to go. I'm sorry." Before he can leave though, Marcus catches up to us. He works with my father, being an Abnegation leader.

"Hello Beatrice." Marcus says, a smile on his face. "I see you and Tobias had a little run in. He's so clumsy. Let's go Tobias." He grabs Tobias' shoulder, firmly. "It was nice to see you. Tell your father I said hello." He drags Tobias with him, Tobias turning to sneak an apologetic look at me as he is dragged away.

"Beatrice? Let's go, we're going to be late." Caleb says, walking over to me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention and bumped right into him. You know how uncoordinated I can be." I say, forcing a smile. Something about Marcus has never felt right to me, and the look Tobias gets in his eyes when he approaches makes me feel heavy inside. I try to push the thought away for now, focusing on the conversations Caleb, Susan and Robert are having.

When we get to the Factionless territory, a shiver goes through my spine. These people were all abandoned by their factions, or chose to leave them. Some people say it's better to be dead than to be factionless. They don't have much food, water, clothing or shelter, so the Abnegation always help them. Today we're bringing them food that the Amity gladly sends to us. The Amity are the faction that grows all the food, they believe in peace and nature.

We walk down a road, handing out boxes of food to other Abnegation volunteers. As I went to turn around to grab more food off of the truck behind me, there was a factionless man standing there. He grabbed both my arms forcefully, shaking me. "You don't want to end up here. You're so beautiful...and young. Do you know what happens to people like that here? Get ou-" He's practically screaming now, when a Dauntless soldier runs over and rips him off me.

"Get the hell out of here." The soldier demands, pushing the man away. The man snickers at me, and walks back towards a building.

The soldier doesn't say anything to me, just looks at me. "I'm okay, thank you." I say, rubbing one of my hands over the spot on my arm where the man grabbed me. There were red marks there, which I hoped would go away as the day went on. The soldier nodded his head, and walked Dauntless are the brave. They are wild and loud and free. They serve as the police in our faction system, I think because they're strong and fearless.

The rest of the trip was uncomfortable for me, so I put my head down as I helped finish unloading all the boxes. Once that was done, I decided I wanted to leave.

"Hey Caleb? Is it alright if I go home early? I'm not feeling well." I say, trying to be convincing. It works, because Caleb smiles and hugs me.

"Go home and get some rest Beatrice. I'll see you at dinner." He turns his back to me and keeps on working.

I enjoyed the silence walking back towards our house. It's almost always silent in Abnegation, everyone just keeping their heads down and doing what they're supposed to. I walk street after street, lost in my own thoughts. When I have to choose, will I stay in Abnegation? Would I be willing to leave my family forever, just to make myself happy? The Choosing Ceremony is a year away, although it feels much closer than that.

As I went to walk back into the Abnegation sector, I see someone sneak behind a building. It's Tobias. I'm not supposed to be curious, but I can't help it. I quietly follow him, staying far away enough so that he couldn't see me. I watched him dodge through buildings, run across streets, and finally slow down when he reaches the fence. I watch as he slams his hands into the fence, gripping it tightly. I slowly walk towards him, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Tobias?" I whisper, trying not to startle him.

He jumps, spinning his head around. He doesn't say anything, just stares at me.

"Are you okay? I saw you come this way and…" I don't know why I followed him. I can't finish my sentence.

"Yeah.. I'm, I'm okay." He says, taking a deep breath. "Isn't someone going to know you're missing?"

"I could say the same for you."

He grins. "Yeah I guess so. This is my favorite place you know, when I like to get away."

Get away from what? I step closer. "It's really beautiful. It's really quiet out here, too."

"The quiet is what I like." This fence over looks the Amity compound, so we see fields and fields of crops. I don't know what to say, so I just go stand next to him.

"I'm happy you followed me." He says, looking forward. I don't say anything, so he continues. "It's nice to have someone here with me."

I think this is the most I've heard Tobias talk as long as I've known him. I touch his shoulder, and he winces. He looks at me, panicked.

"I'm sorry Beatrice, I fell and my shoulder is just sore.." He moves back a few inches.

"I didn't know, so I'm the one that's sorry." I say, moving closer to him. "Tobias? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

I pause, not sure whether to actually ask him or not. "Did you _really_ fall down and hurt your shoulder?" I know it's a personal question but I'm hoping Tobias will tell me the truth. I've heard the rumors about his father.

He says nothing. He looks at me, and then back out to the field. That's all he needed to do for me to know the truth. "Why don't you do anything? Why don't you tell someone? You could stay with us, you don't-" I say, but he cuts me off.

"I appreciate your concern Beatrice but I can handle myself." He says sharply.

"Tris." I say quietly.

"What?"

"I like being called Tris."

Suddenly he seems relieved, and smiles. "Okay, Tris."

We sit there in silence for awhile, facing the fields together. I don't know how long we stood there, to me it felt like a lifetime. I wish I could have more moments like this. The sun starts to set, and then we both look at eachother.

"The sun is setting, I should go." I say, realizing that I never even went home. My parents still think I'm with the factionless. Caleb thinks I'm at home.

"Yeah me too… Tris? Can I walk you back?" He says, sheepishly. I never knew he was so shy.

I tried to hide the smile that grows across my face, but he sees it and smiles too. We walk back slowly, talking about school and other things. Before I know it, we're at the street before our houses. I stop, turning to face him.

"Thank you for walking with me Tobias. This was really nice, I had fun." I say, hoping he doesn't think I'm crazy for telling him all this. In Abnegation I'm supposed to be reserved, but I feel like I can't be when I'm around him.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" He says very quickly. He looks at me, then at his feet, then at the street and back at me.

"I would really like that." I say. He makes me feel… different. When I'm with him I want to scream and run and jump. I feel as if I'm going to burst into flames.

"Good." He says, looking over his shoulder. "Will you volunteer to help the factionless tomorrow? If we both go we could sneak off before anyone sees us. Go back to the fence, maybe." His hand is now rubbing the back of his neck, and I can now see his muscles in his arms. It drives me wild.

"Yes. I can't wait." I lean towards him to kiss his cheek, and immediately pull back.

He smiles and laughs, then turns to walk towards his house. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I start towards my house, when a loud cough behind me startles me. It's Caleb.

"What was that? I thought you went home, you weren't feeling good." He says very quietly. Caleb sometimes scolds me, but never out in the open like this. I don't think he wants anyone to hear.

"I just.. when I was walking home I saw him and followed him somewhere. We talked for awhile and I don't know. I just lost track of time. He's really nice, Caleb."

Caleb just stares at me for a minute. "Okay.. I won't tell mom and dad. But I don't like him Beatrice." This is his protective older brother voice.

"You don't have anything to worry about. I promise."

With that, we both walk into the house.


End file.
